Code of Practice for Customers

This code informs you about our products, services, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions.

This Code of Practice is published on our website. Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any domestic and small business customer. It is also available in alternative formats, such as large print, braille, etc.

We are committed to giving you high-quality customer service. When we purchase our services from wholesale providers, we choose those providers carefully to ensure that you get a high-quality service. We make every reasonable effort to supply services that satisfy your requirements. We work to all relevant laws and regulations.

We work to the principles in the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, which are set out on the website www.cap.org.uk.

If you are a consumer or a small business with up to 10 employees then should you decide to cancel your order or agreement before we have provided the services, you may do so without charge within ten working days of your order being placed. For cancellations after ten working days we will charge you an administration fee as set out in your contract. If you wish to terminate your Agreement during the minimum term of your Agreement, please call our Corporate Accounts team on corporateaccounts@elitegroup.com.

We will charge you a fee as set out in your contract. After the minimum term you can cancel any service by providing written notice in accordance with your agreement.

Our policy is to assess each claim on a case by case basis. We aim to investigate any claims and respond within 5 working days. Any refunds that are due will be credited to the next month’s invoice.

We will bill you as follows:

• Licence Fees & Rental Charges are billed monthly in advance.
• Call Charges & Excess Usage Charges/Power Charges/Bandwidth Charges are billed monthly in arrears.
• Set-up Charges & Additional Service Charges are billed either upon completion of the services or setup of service or prior to such completion, at the discretion of Elitetele.com PLC.

We may bill you and require you to pay a deposit for equipment prior to us delivering such Equipment and we will bill you for the balance on delivery.

Payment methods are agreed at the start of your agreement. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Credit Control Team.

We provide itemised bills as part of our service to you where applicable and on request. Printed bills are available for an agreed fee.

If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 0344 875 8880 and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our residential and small business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection. In any event, you will be given 48 hours’ notice of any decision to disconnect your services for reasons of non-payment. We reserve the right to disconnect your services for other reasons as stipulated and in accordance with your contract terms.

Elitetele.com PLC recognise that keeping your existing telephone numbers may be important to you. If you move your business to us and wish to keep the number that you have with your old provider, we will arrange it if you ask us. We will work with you to ensure that the services are switched over at a convenient and appropriate time. For more information, please call our Customer Service Team on 0344 875 8880.

We make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. However, despite our best efforts, things can go wrong. We take customer complaints very seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and efficiently.

If you would like to raise a complaint please email customerservices@elitegroup.com and a member of our team will be in touch as soon as possible.

We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Premium rate services (PRS) are telephone numbers that offer some form of information or entertainment that is charged to your phone bill. UK-based PRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09” or “118”. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more.

Typical services include TV vote-lines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment.

Charges for these services are made up of two parts, a service charge and an access charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the service charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number and this can be between 7p and £3.60 per minute, or £6 per call or per text (including VAT).

The access charge is kept by us, your phone company. Our access charge for calling these services is shown in our price list, which is available on request from our Customer Services Team and via our website.

If you have a problem with PRS, we can help. We can provide advice on checking the telephone number of any PRS charges that appear on your bill and will try to help you identify the premium rate service provider. We can use call barring to restrict access to “09” numbers.

Please call our Customer Service Team on 0344 875 8880 for advice on this. We can give you a factsheet on PRS.

You can also ask for help from the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PSA operates a Code of Practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PSA website at www.psauthority.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct and find contact details for the company in question or to submit a complaint.

PSA has the legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also order refunds and impose penalties on service providers for breaches of the PSA Code. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful addresses” section below.

Opening Hours: 8.00am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday.

Please contact our Customer Service Team using one of the following:

• By Phone: 0344 875 8880
• By Email: customerservices@elitegroup.com
• By Fax: 0344 844 0201
• By Letter:Customer Services Team
  Elite Group
  Dawson House,
  Matrix Business Park
  Chorley
  PR7 7NA

Or via our website: www.elitegroup.com

• Landline telephones
• Landline calls
• CPS – Carrier Pre-Selection
• WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
• ISDN – digital telephone lines
• Broadband access
• VoIP & IP telephony services
• Non-geographic numbers
• Intelligent Call Routing & Inbound Number Solutions
• Connectivity & Network Solutions
• Telephone Systems
• International Number Services
• Business mobile telephone and data services
• Security, Storage & Data
• IT & Hosting Services
• Equipment and maintenance service

For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact our Corporate Accounts Team on corporateaccounts@elitegroup.com.

When you subscribe to a service from Elite Group, we will send you an Order Form, our Standard Terms and Conditions and our Service Specific Terms and Conditions where relevant and ask you to sign an agreement, if applicable. If you have any questions, please phone our Corporate Accounts Team on corporateaccounts@elitegroup.com.

We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.

Where applicable the minimum contract term for our services will be as detailed on applicable Order Forms and/or our Standard Terms and Conditions. We aim to provide services within agreed timescales and Service Level Agreements, subject to the availability and installation of any equipment and, where appropriate, lines to your premises. If we need to carry out a survey of your premises or lay additional cabling, we will inform you of the revised timescales as soon as we can.

Please call our Fault Service Team on 03448758880 or email customerservices@elitegroup.com if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and repaired in accordance with your Service Level Agreement.

Our pricing structure is available from our Corporate Accounts Team on corporateaccounts@elitegroup.com. We will write to you in advance if we change the pricing structure on your products and services.

Please call our Corporate Accounts Team on 0344 875 8880 no later than 30 days before your move date. We will amend your account and billing requirements as necessary. We will endeavour to offer you the same telephone number to minimise disruption but please note that for geographic numbers this is not always possible.

You are entitled to a Directory Entry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for both your fixed and mobile telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please contact our Corporate Accounts Team on 0344 875 8880.

We are committed to helping all our customers to communicate easily. We offer the following additional services on request for customers who are vulnerable or who may have a disability:

• Priority access to the Customer Service Team
• Priority fault repair and assistance
• Additional help and support if you have difficulty paying your bill
• A free Directory Enquiries service for people who are unable to use the printed phone book
• Copies of bills in large print, on computer disc (or in Braille) for customers who have difficulty reading their bill

Copies of this Code are available in larger print and other formats on request.

Purpose of this Code of Practice

This code informs you, our domestic and/or business customers, about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) and Number Translation Service (NTS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to PRS and NTS numbers.

Personal Numbers are numbers starting with 070. Calls to Personal Numbers are charged at the same rate as for mobile numbers. Calls to Personal Numbers are/are not included in your monthly call minutes allowance or any agreed call bundles.

If you use the Internet via a dial up connection, it is possible for software to be placed on your computer without you knowing – using the same methods as for computer viruses. This type of software (known as Internet or rogue diallers) can then make calls to PRS and NTS numbers without your knowledge.

Software is available to detect this activity and we can help you to access this – please contact our Customer Services Team for details. Phone-paid Services Authority has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.psauthority.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful Addresses” section below. We can also help by barring calls to 09 numbers.

View our Code of Practice on Complaint Handing and Dispute Resolution here.